In 1967, the President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice recommended that a single nationwide number be established for reporting emergency situations. Overwhelming support for the concept prompted AT&T, the nation's predominate telecommunications company at that time, to establish the three-digit number 911 as the emergency code throughout the United States.
Today, nearly every area of North America is covered by basic or enhanced 911 service from landline, also referred to as “wireline,” telecommunications networks. Basic 911 means that when the number is dialed, a call taker in the local public safety answering point (PSAP), or 911 center, answers the call. The caller can communicate the nature and location of the emergency to the call taker who can then take action as appropriate to dispatch emergency service personnel to the scene. With enhanced 911 (E911), the local 911 center has information and technology that allows the call taker to see the caller's phone number and address on a display. This enhancement enables the center to more quickly dispatch emergency help, even if the caller is unable to communicate where they are or the nature of the emergency.
As wireless communications became more popular, the capabilities of E911, primarily the automated number and location identification (ANI and ALI) capabilities, were extended to wireless callers to enhance public safety. As part of this extension, the laws and technology are now largely in place to enable wireless service providers to locate a mobile device to within 100 meters.
When a 911 call is made, the telecommunications switch, whether wireline or wireless, must know which PSAP should receive the call. This determination is made based on the location of the caller. From a wireline phone, the location is simply determined by using a look-up table that associates the calling number with an address. For a wireless caller, locating the call is more complex. The wireless service provider may use global positioning technology, which is sometimes a part of the phone, or the service provider may use some type of signaling analysis to help pinpoint the location of the caller. The location process may be further complicated if the call is made from a phone that is moving.
While E911 has greatly enhanced the ability for emergency response teams to coordinate and react to emergency situations, the system provides many opportunities for improvements. For example, with more than 4,400 PSAPs nationwide, technical as well as institutional challenges often make it difficult to share information about incidents that span multiple jurisdictions or even among multiple disciplines within the same jurisdiction. Most PSAPs and response organizations have independent software systems or policies that often makes a coordinated response more difficult. Similarly, situations that routinely span multiple jurisdictions, such as “Amber Alerts” and evacuation management could be better served by an integrated incident analysis and response system.
In addition to 911 systems, other systems are in place that provide indications of emergency or other incidents. These systems may include static sensors, such as traffic sensors; weather alert systems; or industrial accident warning systems. These systems can be integrated with 911 and other systems to provide an integrated incident analysis system.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for a system and method that integrates incident information and intelligence by identifying, analyzing, and characterizing incidents.